University of Toronto scholar Paul Lawrie delivers a talk entitled, "Doin' Time in the White Man's Army: African Americans and the Political Economy of Military Labor in World War One, 1917-1919". Lawrie describes the experience of black soldiers in the U.S. Army which replicated the forced labor of the chain-gang in segregated labor battalions. He explains why African-American troops were prevented from assuming combat roles, even as French colonial troops from West Africa engaged the Germans. Lawrie describes how "Jim Crow" laws were institutionalized in the Army, even to the point of returning, uniformed soldiers, being lynched as they tried to go home. Question and answer session follows. Lawrie is introduced by Professor John P. Beck, Associate Director, Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the MSU Museum, and MSU's African-American and African Studies Program. Held at the MSU Museum.
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